Virtual microphone

Abstract

The disclosed computer-implemented method may include establishing and implementing a virtual microphone. The method may include receiving an input specifying a location for a virtual microphone that is configured to capture audio as if located in the specified location. The method may next include initializing physical microphones to begin capturing audio as if located at the specified location. The physical microphones may be electronically or physically oriented to listen from the specified location. The method may then include combining audio streams from the physical microphones to generate a combined audio signal that sounds as if recorded at the specified location. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

We claim: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving an input specifying a location for a virtual microphone that is configured to capture audio as if located in the specified location; 
 initializing two or more physical microphones to begin capturing audio as if located at the specified location, wherein the two or more physical microphones are electronically or physically oriented to listen from the specified location; 
 combining audio streams from the two or more physical microphones to generate a combined audio signal that sounds as if recorded at the specified location; 
 receiving one or more portions of information relative to an environment; 
 determining that the specified location is within the environment; and 
 implementing the received environment information to customize one or more acoustic characteristics of the specified location. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the environment information indicates that the specified location is within a building, and further indicates which part of the building the specified location is in. 
     
     
       3. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the environment information indicates that one or more people are within a given distance of the specified location. 
     
     
       4. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more other mobile devices having microphones that come within a specified distance of the specified location are initialized to capture audio and provide the captured audio to the combined audio stream. 
     
     
       5. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the combined audio streams from the two or more physical microphones to identify specific persons that are within audible range of the specified location. 
     
     
       6. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual microphone is governed by one or more policies indicating when capturing audio from the virtual microphone is permissible. 
     
     
       7. The computer-implemented method of  claim 6 , wherein the virtual microphone policies are geography-based, time-based or individual-based. 
     
     
       8. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual microphone is activated upon detecting audible sounds within range of the virtual microphone. 
     
     
       9. The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , further comprising taking one or more observations about the specified location upon activation of the virtual microphone, wherein the observations are stored in a data store. 
     
     
       10. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the two or more physical microphones are at least initially not located at the specified location. 
     
     
       11. A system comprising:
 at least one physical processor; 
 physical memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the physical processor, cause the physical processor to:
 receive an input specifying a location for a virtual microphone that is configured to capture audio as if located in the specified location; 
 initialize two or more physical microphones to begin capturing audio as if located at the specified location, wherein the two or more physical microphones are electronically or physically oriented to listen from the specified location; 
 combine audio streams from the two or more physical microphones to generate a combined audio signal that sounds as if recorded at the specified location; 
 receive one or more portions of information relative to an environment; 
 determine that the specified location is within the environment; and 
 implement the received environment information to customize one or more acoustic characteristics of the specified location. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the physical microphones is embedded in a mobile device associated with a user. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the user opts in to allow their mobile device to be used as a virtual microphone. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the user's opt in is subject to one or more policies indicating times and locations where their mobile device is usable as a virtual microphone. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 13 , wherein a user-initiated placement of the virtual microphone is overridden by a location-based policy indicating that virtual microphones are disallowed at the specified location, such that the initialized microphones are disengaged. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising: initializing two or more physical speakers at the specified location, wherein the two or more physical speakers are electronically or physically oriented to project sound as if coming from the specified location. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , further comprising associating a sequence of actions with the specified location, such that when a user is detected in the specified location, the sequence of actions takes place. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the sequence of actions takes place at a scheduled time. 
     
     
       19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:
 receive an input specifying a location for a virtual microphone that is configured to capture audio as if located in the specified location; 
 initialize two or more physical microphones to begin capturing audio as if located at the specified location, wherein the two or more physical microphones are electronically or physically oriented to listen from the specified location;
 combine audio streams from the two or more physical microphones to generate a combined audio signal that sounds as if recorded at the specified location; 
 receive one or more portions of information relative to an environment; 
 determine that the specified location is within the environment; and 
 implement the received environment information to customize one or more acoustic characteristics of the specified location. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the received information relative to the environment comprises simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) data.